U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein speaks at a news conference after she was briefed on the progress of the oil spill clean-up efforts by Coast Guard Rear Admiral Craig Bone (left) and other officials at the unified command center on Treasure Island in San Francisco, Calif. on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007. earlier in the week Feinstein harshly criticized the apparent slow response by the Coast Guard to the accident but she backed off those remarks at a news conference.
PAUL CHINN/The Chronicle
**Dianne Feinstein, Craig Bone
Ran on: 11-19-2007
Sen. Dianne Feinstein has successfully blocked several conservative Bush appointments.
Ran on: 12-19-2007
Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Photo: PAUL CHINN

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein speaks at a news conference after she...

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Mayor Newsom is seen with probation officials Allen Nance (left) and William Siffermann on July 1, 2008 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo by Lance Iversen / The Chronicle

California Attorney General Jerry Brown comments on the death of Anna Nicole Smith during a news conference in Los Angeles Friday, Oct. 12, 2007. Authorities investigating the death of Anna Nicole Smith raided six locations Friday, including the offices and residences of two doctors, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

According to the statewide poll by JMM Research of Sacramento, Brown - himself a former governor looking for a repeat performance - would be the top choice of 31 percent of the registered Democrats surveyed if the primary were held today.

Newsom gets 19 percent. Villaraigosa has 12 percent, while Lt. Gov. John Garamendiand state schools chief JackO'Connell both clock in with 9 percent.

But if you add Feinstein to the mix - and take out Newsom, Villaraigosa and O'Connell, figuring they might bow out if she jumps in - Brown drops to 24 percent, and the state's senior senator grabs 50 percent.

Feinstein, who has seen the poll numbers, declined to comment on either the poll or her possible candidacy.

The survey also had some interesting insights into how the non-Feinstein Democrats are faring.

Brown, for example, is stronger in the north than in the south. And he's most popular among voters over 40.

The downside: Although Brown has a favorable rating of 41 percent among all voters polled, he has a fairly high unfavorable rating of 32 percent.

A favorable-to-unfavorable ratio of less than 2-1 is generally considered weak, pollster Jim Mooresaid.

Villaraigosa has an image problem as well, with just 24 percent of those surveyed giving him a favorable rating and 32 percent unfavorable.

Not exactly the strongest starting point for a statewide run.

Newsom's favorable-unfavorable numbers are a less-than-encouraging 21 percent to 20 percent. His other problem: Forty-six percent of respondents don't know who he is.

Familiarity is also a big problem with potential Republican candidates.

The poll found that a mere 8 percent of voters surveyed had heard of former eBay CEO Whitman.

Only 23 percent had heard of former Hewlett-Packard chief Fiorina, and just 24 percent had heard of Poizner - and he's a statewide elected official.

Campbell was known by 37 percent of the voters, which may explain his early lead - such as it is.

The poll of 650 voters statewide was taken from July 11 to 20 and had an overall margin of error of four percentage points. For the primary preferences, the margins of error were 5.7 points for Democrats and 6.5 points for Republicans.

Play ball: Looks like the San Francisco Giants and a group headed by political wheeler-dealer Darius Andersonwon't be battling each other for the rights to develop a ballpark village next to AT&T Park after all.

Instead, the two sides appear to be planning a merger.

Although neither side is commenting for the record, sources tell us both groups had doubts about the financial viability of their plans - and that getting into a bidding war wasn't likely to make things any easier.

Hence, we're told the Giants approached Anderson about a merger. That could place them in a stronger position to win concessions from the port, which owns the land.

Mayor Gavin Newsom is exploring a run for governor - and would no doubt like to have the local party's backing. The mayor worked the phones hard to try to keep his dual detractors, Peskin and Supervisor Chris Daly, from taking control.

Gay activist Scott Wiener, who was running for re-election as central committee chairman, says Ma promised to support him two months ago - only to flip and vote for Peskin, despite a long history of political run-ins with the board president.

Ma said she never promised Wiener her support. While she and Peskin certainly have had their "ups and downs" over the years, she said, none of it compares to the slights she's suffered at the hands of Newsom and his chief political strategist, Eric Jaye.

Namely, Jaye running the campaign of Ma's Assembly opponent, Janet Reilly, and fueling the story that appeared in our column about Ma's relationship with a lobbyist pushing electric meter technology on the city.

Ma also points out that Newsom didn't endorse her for the Board of Supervisors or the Assembly.

Upshot: When it came time to vote Wednesday, Ma handed her proxy to former Public Utilities Commission boss Susan Leal- whom Newsom recently fired - and she delivered the knife to the mayor's pick.

As for the governor's race? "I am urging Jerry Brown to run for governor," Ma said.

Busted melons: Oakland cops certainly have their hands full these days trying to solve murders and robberies - but a watermelon bust?

Howard McCarleyof San Leandro tells us he was cruising Thursday morning near Church Street and Bancroft Avenue in Oakland when he spotted about 10 police officers loading up watermelons into two trailers.

The melons presumably were being peddled by an unlicensed vendor.

Farther down Bancroft, at 98th Street, McCarley spied two more of Oakland's finest holding another suspect truck.

"Makes me feel better knowing that East Oakland is now safe from the scourge of undocumented watermelons," McCarley said.

Police spokesman Sgt. Roland Holmgrensaid it's all part of the community policing that merchants and residents demand.

"It sounds ridiculous," he said. "But dealing with crime means dealing with some of the smaller quality-of-life issues, too."